Prime Minister Edi Rama, upon receiving the European Commission’s progress report, said that Albania has entered the final kilometer of its EU accession process.
Rama said that Albania’s European journey should no longer be viewed through expectations about decisions by European institutions, but through the commitment and steps that the country itself must undertake.
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“For a long time, the narrative of Albania’s European journey was determined by what we expected to happen. Candidate status: yes or no, and when? Opening of negotiations: yes or no, and when? Approval of the interim benchmarks: yes or no, and when? Today, this report published yesterday by the EC sets out a new narrative. No longer one based on what we expect to happen, but on the steps we must take to complete this journey.
In other words, Albania’s European fate is now entirely in our hands. This is the report’s main message. Albania is entering the final kilometer of the negotiations for EU membership. This final kilometer has another thousand meters to cover, and every meter has one hundred centimeters to overcome. The report shows that, compared with a year ago, Albania’s level of preparedness has increased significantly in at least 20 negotiating chapters. It highlights progress in the economy, digital transformation, energy, education and the alignment of legislation with EU standards,” Rama said.
Speaking about the positive and negative aspects of this progress report, Rama said: “By hammering one nail and then the other, we fuel the traditional divide, as well as a division that harms this great national mission of EU membership and undermines the national interest, because at this moment both are linked to a real historic opportunity to cross the distant and long-barred threshold of a united Europe.”
